Impact hammer tools may be used to penetrate and break up hardened materials such as rock, concrete, asphalt, or the like. During operation of an impact hammer, dust, grains, dirt, or larger particles of several millimeters in diameter are created. These particles disperse in various directions including toward the impact hammer. An impact hammer tool having a tool bit that protrudes from a housing element is particularly susceptible to these small and large particles. As the tool bit extends and retracts, the particles may be pulled back into the housing where they may get stuck and/or cause increased wear and premature breakdown of the internal components of the impact hammer.
Current systems for reducing wear of tool components include the use of protective devices. U.S. Pat. No. 5,873,579 describes a fluid operated percussion tool having a protective device. The protective device is intended to reduce wear while operating under heavy duty conditions, and includes multiple parts supported within a housing element. During operation, a tool bit slideably moves within the housing and protrudes through the protective device. As small particles are formed and disperse, a plate-shaped transverse slide protects the internal components of the percussion tool. Although this conventional system may provide an approach to protect a tool from small particles, it includes multiple parts, can be expensive to replace, provides minimal protection against larger particles, and can require maintenance to ensure the protective device is properly aligned.
To overcome these issues, elastic sealing elements have been used for protecting internal components. The elastic seal elements are pressed against the tool bit to seek to prevent penetration of particles. However, such protective devices are easily damaged during heavy duty use and are further exposed to significant wear due to continuous reciprocating motions of the tool bit.
Thus, an improved system for protecting components of an impact hammer is desired to reduce wear and increase the life of the impact hammer.
It will be appreciated that this background description has been created by the inventors to aid the reader, and is not to be taken as an indication that any of the indicated problems were themselves appreciated in the art. While the described principles can, in some respects and embodiments, alleviate the problems inherent in other systems, it will be appreciated that the scope of the protected innovation is defined by the attached claims, and not by the ability of any disclosed feature to solve any specific problem noted herein.